GAME RECAP: Cypress Creek HS vs Elkins HS

It was another high powered, early season match-up as the Elkins Knights played host to the Cypress Creek Cougars. Cy Creek came into this game full of confidence, riding the hot hand of DJ Richards, who has averaged 32.5 points over the last week. Elkins, on the other hand, has found success with more of a "scoring by committee" approach which makes them EXTREMELY dangerous. The Knights legitimately has five players that can score 20 points on any given night, and thats without [player_tooltip player_id="1057610" first="Jackson" last="Fields"], who is still in football. So it is intriguing to see which player takes the leading scorer role in every game that they play. Let’s take a look at how this game panned out.   [embed]https://youtu.be/TcdXNxBPVN0[/embed] First Quarter The Elkins Knights jumped out to an early 9 - 2 lead, thanks to a quick 5 points from Shane Bell. Once Cypress Creek started to settle in, they were able to cut into the lead, using their defense and ability to rebound the ball. This was spear headed by TJ Ashford, whose speed and athleticism helped him grab multiple rebounds and have multiple deflections defensively. Both teams were getting clean looks, but the score did not reflect that fact, as both teams struggled to convert. Elkins went into the break with a four point lead. End of the 1st Score Cy Creek HS - 11 Elkins HS - 15   Second Quarter The second quarter started off with another quick start for Elkins, thanks again to a 5 - 0 run by Shane bell. Cy Creek countered this run with a 7-0 run themselves, all scored by Jaylon Salsman. Shots started falling for the Cougars just as Elkins began a scoring slump. DJ Richards began to wake up and take control of the game and ended the half with an exclamation point by having the play of the game. Cypress Creek found themselves with a 27 - 25 lead at the half End of the 2nd Score Cy Creek HS - 27 Elkins HS - 25 [embed]https://youtu.be/46lIpQXURmE[/embed] Third Quarter Once again, another quick start for the Knights coming out of the break, however, this time, they were able to sustain their ability to score throughout the entire period. It looked to be a quarter that would belong to the class of 2023 with [player_tooltip player_id="787342" first="Chris" last="Johnson"] and Corey Hadnot being more assertive and trading buckets. However, a hard fall for Johnson seemed to take a bit of life out of the game, as he headed to the trainers (Johnson was able to return later in the quarter.) Elkins was able to pull together and started making plays inside. They were a lot more aggressive and got a ton of paint touches as they began to pound Cy Creek’s interior defense and get easy shots. This, combined with limiting Cy Creek’s offense, propelled the Knight’s to a sizable lead, outscoring the Cougars 26 - 11 in the quarter. End of the 3rd Score Cy Creek HS - 38 Elkins HS - 51   Forth Quarter DJ Richards absolutely owned the forth quarter as he tried to bring his team back from a 13 point deficit. Elkins had no answer for him as he made their good defense look ineffective by hitting several difficult shots. As the Cougars began to eat into the Knight’s lead, [player_tooltip player_id="887084" first="Jacolbi" last="Harris"] kept Elkins steady as he forced the issue and earned multiple trips to the free throw line (made four consecutive attempts.) But the story of this quarter was DJ Richards’ valiant attempt to will Cy Creek to a victory. Unfortunately, for the Cougars, the third quarter lead that Elkins built up was simply too much to over come as the Knights walked away with a four point win. End of the Game Score Cy Creek HS - 58 Elkins HS - 62 Double Digit Scorers <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.28-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089699" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.28-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> DJ Richards (6’5 G | Cypress Creek HS | 2021) - 26 points <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.08-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089701" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.08-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> Shane Bell (6’2 G | Elkins HS | 2021) - 16 points   <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.28.29-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089698" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.28.29-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="787342" first="Chris" last="Johnson"] (6’3 PG | Elkins HS | 2023) - 14 points <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.17-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089704" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.17-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> Jaylen Salsman (6’0 G | Cypress Creek HS | 2021) - 12 points   <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.37-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089706" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.37-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> Ryan Jones (6’3 F/G | Elkins HS | 2021) - 10 points   <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.51-PM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1089707" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-24-at-4.30.51-PM-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="887084" first="Jacolbi" last="Harris"] (5’9 PG | Elkins HS | 2021) - 10 points